A Method for Selection of Optimum Solidity in Design of a Tandem Compressor Blade Row

In the current article, using results of previous researches, a guideline has been developed to select a proper value for solidity of a tandem blade row in an axial flow compressor stage. Next, using this guideline, a highly loaded tandem compressor stage has been designed. To verify the selected solidity value, some other cases have been designed with different solidity values. Other geometrical parameters have been selected similarly in all cases. At the next stage, a three dimensional numerical model is developed to predict the characteristic performance of each tandem stage. The model is validated with the experimental results of NASA Stage and Rotor 37, and the level of the accuracy of the model is presented. Using a similar model, the performance of all cases has been derived and the effect of solidity variation on the overall performance of machine has been discussed. Lastly, the effect of solidity variation on the tip leakage flow structure near peak efficiency point is discussed for all cases.